Lesson Learnt from all the #Email #Hacking

Don’t be a Democrat

Being a #Democrat will set you up for a hack job. Let’s review the evidence: First the Democratic National Committee (#DNC) gets hacked. #Wikileaks released 20,000 emails stolen from the servers of the #DNC. Whoa, wait, stop. Wrong info. I got my newsfeeds crossed. Sorry about that. No one has come forward as the leaker (leakee? whistleblower?). Of course, it may have been the new transparency in government that the parties are touting. Some security firms are suggesting it was hackers from (pick one or more): Russia, ISIS, the #Republican Party, North Korea, or Bernie #Sanders.

Then there was the #Clinton campaign headquarters. There is some speculation that Hillary Clinton’s email account was successfully hacked. She’s a Democrat by the way. Dick #Durbin is the Democratic Senator from #Illinois. Sure enough, the Illinois state board of election got hacked. Now we hear that Colin #Powell, a former Republican but now a Democrat and supporter of Hillary has had his emails hacked.

To paraphrase FBI Director James #Comey, I don’t think the Democrats are particularly sophisticated with respect to handling email servers. Apparently, there is no truth to the rumor that the DNC is seeking administrative assistants that know how to use typewriters. A rumor is also going around that they would like a type of email that self-destructs after fifteen minute. (Okay, I must confess, I started that rumor.) I predict that Snapchat will be the new server for all Democratic Party correspondence.

Don’t attack Trump

It’s obvious that Trump is behind all the hacking, not #Russia. Everyone is too quick to blame #Russia for hacking. That’s a Red Herring. Let’s review the evidence. First the Democratic National Committee (DNC) gets hacked. If Trump didn’t do it, he should certainly be a “person of interest.” He has the motive, the money and will to do. Then there was the Clinton campaign headquarters. Okay, same deal.

Now consider the case of Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin from Illinois who cautioned that Trump’s “radical” and “extreme” positions would pose a challenge for #Republican candidates in #Illinois. Then Republican U.S. Sen. Mark #Kirk also from Illinois tried to distance himself from Trump. So sure enough, the Illinois state board of election website got hacked.

Earlier, John #McCain, the Republican Senator from # Arizona nearly withdrew his support for Trump, but settled for a warning. So sure enough, the Arizona state board of election website got hacked.

Colin #Powell, a supporter of Hillary and a critic of Trump, has had his emails hacked. Coincident? I think not. I’m not saying that Trump is doing all the hacking himself, I just saying if you attack Trump in public, your emails will be hacked.

Don’t be Secretary of State

Colin Powell, Secretary of State under Bush, 2001 – 2005. His emails were hacked. Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State under Obama, 2009 – 2013. Her emails were hacked. If you want to protect your emails, avoid holding this office at all costs.

Don’t use email

Have you noticed that all the victims of hacking were users of email? Coincident? The best way to protect your emails is to never, ever use it. In days of old, we used to download all critical information and take it off site to protect it. The email server shouldn’t keep records of messages on the server.

As they say, live and learn. This blog will self-destruct in 15 seconds. You’ve been warned.